marvel of Peru see under marvel

four /fōr or för/

noun

1. The cardinal number next above three
2. A symbol representing that number (4, iv, etc)
3. A set of four things or people (syllables, leaves, rowers, etc)
4. A four-oar boat
5. A score of four points, strokes, tricks, etc
6. An article of a size denoted by 4
7. A playing card with four pips
8. A four-cylinder engine or car
9. (in pl) a snack taken at four o'clock (also foursˈes; dialect)
10. The fourth hour after midnight or midday
11. The age of four years

adjective

1. Of the number four
2. Four years old

fourˈfold adjective and adverb

1. In four divisions
2. Folded in four thicknesses
3. Four times as much

fourˈfoldness noun

fourˈsome noun

1. A group of four
2. An activity involving four people
3. A golf match played between two pairs of players, in which each pair plays only one ball, players taking alternate strokes

fourˈ-ale noun

1. Ale sold at fourpence a quart (obsolete)
2. Cheap ale

fourˈball noun (golf)

A match played between two pairs of players, in which only the lower score of each pair for each hole is counted

fourˈ-by-fourˈ or 4 x 4 noun

A vehicle with four-wheel drive

fourˈ-by-twoˈ noun

1. The piece of cloth in a rifle pull-through
2. An army biscuit
3. A piece of wood, etc four (inches, etc) by two (inches, etc)

four-colˈour adjective (photography or printing)

Involving or using four colours (magenta, cyan, yellow and black) as primary

four-dimenˈsional adjective

Having four dimensions, esp length, breadth and depth with the addition of time

fourˈ-eyes singular noun

1. The fish Anableps (also four-eyed fish)
2. A person wearing spectacles (derog sl)

fourˈ-figure adjective

1. Running into four figures
2. Expressed to four decimal places

fourˈ-flush noun

Four cards of the same suit in a five-card poker hand

intransitive verb

1. To bluff with a four-flush
2. To bluff generally

adjective

1. Bluffing
2. Not genuine

four-flushˈer noun

fourˈ-foot adjective

1. Measuring four feet (four-foot way in British and some other railways, the space of 4 feet 81/2 inches (1.435m) between rails)
2. Having the pitch of an open organ pipe four feet long, or having that pitch for its lowest note

fourˈ-footed adjective

Having four feet

four-function calculator noun

An electronic calculator which can add, subtract, multiply and divide

fourˈ-handed adjective

1. Having four hands
2. Played by four players (cards)

fourˈ-horse adjective

Drawn by four horses

four-hours /fowrˈoorz/ noun (Scot)

A refreshment taken about four o'clock

fourˈ-inched adjective (Shakespeare)

Four inches wide

fourˈ-in-hand noun

1. A coach drawn by four horses, two by two, driven by one person
2. The team drawing it
3. A necktie tied with a flat slip-knot, with dangling ends

four-leaf clover noun

A clover leaf with four leaflets rather than three, supposedly bringing good luck

fourˈ-leaved, fourˈ-leafed or fourˈ-leaf adjective

fourˈ-legged (also /-legˈid/) adjective

four-letter word noun

Any of a number of vulgar short words, esp of four letters, referring to sex or excrement

fourˈ-oar noun

A boat rowed with four oars

fourˈ-o'clock noun

1. A brightly-coloured flowering plant (Mirabilis jalapa), also known as the marvel of Peru
2. A similar red-flowered plant (Mirabilis laevis) found in California
3. The friarbird, an Australian honeyeater

fourˈ-pack noun (informal)

Four cans of drink packaged together and sold as a single item

fourˈ-part or four-partˈed adjective

1. In four parts
2. Divided into four nearly to the base

fourˈpence noun

The value of four pennies

fourˈpenny noun

An old silver coin worth fourpence

adjective

Sold or offered for fourpence

fourpenny one noun (old slang)

A blow or punch

four-postˈer noun

A large bed with four curtain posts

four-poundˈer noun

1. A gun that fires a four-pound shot
2. A four-pound object, eg a loaf

fourˈscore adjective (archaic)

Eighty

fourˈscorth adjective (obsolete)

Eightieth

fourˈ-seater noun

A vehicle with seats for four

fourˈ-squareˈ adjective

1. (also adverb) square
2. Presenting a firm bold front
3. Frank, honest and forthright

four-stroke cycle noun

(in an internal-combustion engine) a recurring series of four strokes of the piston, comprising an out-stroke drawing the mixed gases into the cylinder, an in-stroke compressing them, an out-stroke impelled by their explosion and working the engine, and an in-stroke driving out the burnt gas

fourˈ-wheel adjective

Acting on or by means of four wheels

four-wheel drive noun

A system in which the driving power of a vehicle is transmitted to all four wheels (abbrev 4WD)

fourˈ-wheel-driveˈ adjective

fourˈ-wheeled adjective

fourˈ-wheelˈer noun

A horse-drawn cab or other vehicle with four wheels

on all fours

1. On four feet, or hands and feet, or hands and knees
2. Analogous or strictly comparable (with with; law)

the Four Freedoms

The four essential human freedoms as proclaimed by US President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1941, ie freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear

the four hundred (US)

The exclusive social set

the four seas see under sea

marvel /märˈvl/

noun

1. A wonder
2. Anything astonishing or wonderful
3. Astonishment (archaic)

intransitive verb (marˈvelling; marˈvelled)

1. To wonder
2. To feel astonishment

transitive verb (obsolete)

To wonder at

marˈvellous adjective

1. Astonishing
2. Almost or altogether beyond belief
3. Improbable
4. Very good, extremely pleasing (informal)

marˈvellously adverb

marˈvellousness noun

marvel of Peru /pə-rooˈ/ noun

A showy garden flower (Mirabilis jalapa, family Nyctaginaceae) from tropical America, open and scented in the evening